


That Makes Two of Us

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Awkward Dancing, Birthday, Champagne, Cupcakes, Dancing, F/M, Friendship, Lola - Freeform, Of course Trip knows how to Swing dance, Party, Romance, Skye GETS Coulson ifyaknowwhatimean, Skye gets Coulson, Tropes, party hats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 13:34:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1650464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just me finding an excuse to write Skye finding Coulson adorable and visa versa.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Makes Two of Us

"Morning, sunshine."

Skye flopped her head in the direction of May.

"I would roll my eyes, but I'm too tired," she replied.

"This will wake you right up," she said, stepping into the begin form. Waited for Skye to follow suit.

"Very good," said May. She moved into the Raise Hands.

Skye yawned.

"Haven't seen Coulson much lately," she said.

May ignored her.

"He's thrown himself into the work," she continued.

"This is not about talking, Skye," May said, moving into another pose.

"Yeah, I know," Skye replied. "Only 104 more postures to go!" she added sarcastically.

"If you don't want to do this," May said, letting her arms fall to her sides.

"I'm just a concerned citizen," Skye said. "He's the Director of SHIELD now, and he hasn't stepped out of his office in days. He looks tired, he..."

"Doesn't need a mommy," May said, cutting her off. "Coulson knows what he's doing."

"Really?" Skye asked. "Then I guess you know that he's been walking the halls late at night? That he's not sleeping?"

"What do you suggest, I tell him to blow off some steam?"

"Yeah, or, he could, like, include us in it," she said.

May cocked her head. "He will include us in it, when he's ready."

"Isn't that what got us here to begin with? The right hand not knowing what the left is doing?"

May started with the begin form again.

"Maybe he needs to get out, get around people again?" Skye asked, a thought forming in her mind. 

"No," May said. 

"His birthday is coming up, right?"

"No."

"Coulson's a romantic, so, it needs to be something personal, something that speaks to his..."

"What he needs," said May, "Is to get laid."

Skye twisted her face in shock. "Ewww, don't put Coulson and 'laid' together in a sentence," she said in disgust. "He is not that kind of guy," she added. 

May was just staring at her with her eyebrow raised.

"He's not that kind of guy, right?"

May just smirked at her.

"Whatever," Skye said, blowing her off with a wave of her hand. "And anyway, what's up with sex being your solution to every problem?"

Fine. She wanted to go there, let's go.

"We work in a dangerous business. Dangerous and often tedious and isolating. It takes the edge off. Lets you stay detached, focused."

"Okay, point, but you know what else takes the edge off? Sunshine and walks in the park, and dangerous glances over coffee in the afternoon."

May shook her head and resumed her tai chi.

"He is a romantic," Skye said, starting with the begin form, a stubborn look on her face.

****

Coulson went to his desk first thing, after his first morning cup of coffee. So far, he'd avoided the rest of the team, was gearing up his birthday face in hopes that it would be the right mixture of appreciation and awkward that put anyone off from further schemes. He just wasn't into birthdays.

There was an envelope sitting on the desk. No writing. Crisp white. 

He opened it slowly. It was just a white card with old fashioned embossed letterpress. It said. "Meet me here at 9:00 p.m. Don't be late." He smiled, ran his hand over the indention of the letters. He liked the feel of it, nice weight to the card. Elegant typeface.

It had to be either Skye or May. Probably Skye. May was not this sentimental. The card was something he would appreciate.

He took a breath, let it out slowly, placed the card on his desk.

Started his work for the day. He needed a break, but he already felt like he was playing from behind.

 

****

Coulson was in his room, cheerfully putting his suit on. And the nice tie.

The door buzzer went off. 

"Come in," he said, arranging his cufflinks.

May walked in and Coulson felt a smile catch at the corner of his mouth.

"What do you think?" she smiled.

"Uh, I think you look..."

The dress was short, the heels were high. Single shouldered, a very nice rich purple. Not much left to the imagination. And she was wearing makeup. She never did that. She walked by him and pushed his mouth closed with her index finger. "I get it. It's the thought that counts."

"Why are you dressed like that?" Coulson asked with a nervous chuckle. Was there some kind of birthday plot being launched on him. First, Skye's card, now this.

"Phil, I'm taking you out for your birthday, remember?"

No. No, he did not.

 

****

Skye put on her only great dress. The one from the Quinn Caper, as she now called it. Because, it was his birthday, and he deserved great. She had made her way back to his office, to make sure everything was ready. 

Champagne. Check. Old LP on the record player. Check. She hoped that she hit on his taste in music right, she'd hunted it from a record store in Brooklyn, it was from around the time when Rogers lived there. Limited edition Glenn Miller, some fast stuff, some slow stuff. She found where the slow stuff was, set the needle there. 

A little cupcake with a single candle in it. The P on the top looked kind of sad, but it would have to do. She had left the rest in the kitchen for the team to eat. He didn't really seem like much of a dessert guy, but she wanted to honor the sentiment of the day.

And, the icing on the cupcake, her gift. It was a wristwatch she'd found among the things in the storage room. It looked old, she couldn't tell how old, but it was definitely cool. And Phil liked old watches. Since he was SHIELD's Director, she didn't think it would be stealing to let him have it. And she'd checked it out, so it probably wasn't going to melt anyone's face off or alter brainwaves. She had put it in a nice box, with a real satin ribbon.

She looked at the time. A minute till, she went ahead and started the music. 

Biting her lower lip, she heard footsteps and the handle turned.

It was Coulson. 

"Happy Birthday!" she said with a smile, and blew on the noisemaker.

With May. And what was May wearing? Wow. Go May. Wait! No, May.

"Wow, this is great!" Coulson said with his birthday face. "Um, May, can you just give us a minute?" Coulson said as she stood in the hall shutting the door behind him.

"So, all of this is for me?" he said, looking at the little cupcake on the desk, the champagne chilling, the box.

Skye went and took the arm off the record.

"That's so sweet," he said, kind of half-smiling.

"I'd forgotten May had invited me out. My birthday," he shrugged.

Skye just nodded.

"Sure," she said, taking the hat off. "You should go have fun. It's a special day. For a special guy." She smiled over at him. "You look nice."

"So do you," he said.

"So does May," Skye said with a raised eyebrow.

Coulson started to say something, thought better of it. "Is that my present?" he asked, pointing to the desk.

"Yeah, but," she said, waving him away. "We can do that later. You should probably go."

"Yeah, I should," he said, a guilty look on his face. "Skye, thank you. Seriously."

"Happy Birthday," she said, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.

****

What an idiot! She tossed the hat and cupcake in the trash. Left the record on the player. He'd find it tomorrow. She looked at the box on the desk and then yanked the champagne out of the cooler, kicked her shoes off, put them in hand, went out to the hanger.

She was going to go sit in Lola, and drink herself silly.

See how he liked that. And May was right, Coulson just needed to blow off some steam... That wasn't fair. Although, May's dress was really tight. And she never wore makeup. The thought of May seducing Coulson after one too many drinks. Because, he was a gentleman, and she'd have to get him all liquored up in order to take...

Lola's horn interrupted her angry reverie. What? 

She entered the hangar and saw Phil. Sitting in Lola.

He waved at her, smiled warmly. Opened the door.

"Let me help you with that," he said, taking the champagne bottle from her and following her around to the passenger side, opening the door for her and closing it behind.

He opened the champagne outside the car, because, *ahem*. He gave her a little look about that.

"I know, not in Lola," she said. "What are you still doing here?" 

"I...decided not to go."

"So, you stood May up?" she asked. Sheesh. That didn't seem like him.

"It was a Stark Industries party. And it's my birthday, so I thought, I shouldn't HAVE to talk to Tony Stark on my birthday. That just seems unreasonable, don't you think?" he asked, looking for agreement.

"Oh, I thought that..."

"Me and May. Right?" he said.

"Why was she all dressed up then?" 

"Thor's going to be there," he said, like it was the only logical answer.

Skye nodded. Now it made perfect sense. She leaned back into Lola, looked up at the hangar ceiling, laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked. He drank right out of the champagne bottle. Made an approving face.

"I threw your cupcake in the trash."

"Okay," he said, chuckling. "I'm very sorry I was not able to enjoy it."

"I made it from scratch," she said. "Your present is still on your desk, though." 

"Skye, what's all of this about?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking back at him innocently.

"The note, all the stuff, the music, champagne, if I didn't know better..."

She turned and put her elbow against the seat, rested her head on her hand. Blinked. Waited.

He was just shrugging with his mouth open. No words were coming out of it.

"You're a cool guy, Phil," he smiled. She never used his first name. "And, I wanted you to know how much I care," she continued. "And most of all, I wanted to celebrate you," she said.

"That's sweet," he said. Like he meant it.

"Haven't seen a whole lot of you lately."

"No," he said.

"I just don't want you to be so alone in it all. Because you're not."

"I know," he agreed. "It's just that," he paused for a moment. Looked at his feet in the floorboard. "I've been having doubts," he continued on. 

"About whether I really wanted this. More specifically, if I'm the right guy. And, I wasn't sure if that was fair to all of you. You can't follow someone who doesn't believe in what they're doing. Or, is unsure about it. Which, I am."

Skye got out of Lola.

"Come on," she said, grabbing his hand. "I have an idea."

****

May heard music drifting down the hall towards her as she re-entered the Playground. It was coming from Coulson's office. So, that was the real reason he'd stayed behind. She'd figured as much. Her night hadn't turned out so bad, either, but it was getting late. 

"I've got this," she heard Coulson say.

Skye laughed and said, "Sir! That's just wrong."

"Here, let me," said Trip.

"I'm telling you, I've got this," said Coulson.

"There is this invention called You Tube," said Koenig, "I'm sure you've seen it."

May pushed open the door to see Coulson and Trip in a dance position together.

Coulson had his tie loose and was wearing a party hat. Trip had a Cohiba cigar in one hand and Coulson's waist in the other.

Simmons and Skye, both wearing hats, and holding champagne flutes, nearly hit the floor from laughter at May's expression. Koenig had a party hat and a lanyard.

She looked around the room at half-eaten cupcakes, the beginnings of a card game of some kind, and a couple of empty bottles of champagne.

"Swing lessons," Skye said, breathing through her nose. "Trip is teaching us how to Swing Dance."

"Of course he is," said May flatly. She just looked at Coulson and shook her head.

"Nice dress," said Trip.

"It's so tight!" said Koenig gleefully.

May flashed a look at him and walked past them, went to the cabinet and got out a bottle of whiskey and a glass.

"Oh, you didn't tell me you had whiskey," said Trip, rubbing his hands together.

He handed Coulson over to Skye, sat down across from May.

Simmons started the record again, it was something slow.

"This, I've definitely got," Coulson said, smiling down at Skye.

"Ahem," Simmons said, tapping Trip on the shoulder.

"Duty calls," he said, grinning at May. He stood up and began dancing with Simmons.

"Isn't the Director cool?" said Koenig, sitting down across from May. "I believe that whiskey is from his private collection, as with the cigars, I'm going to suggest you request permission."

May poured a glass. "Noted," she took a drink.

"Neat party," Koenig said. "Would you like to..."

"No."

May looked over at Coulson. He did look pretty happy, if not a bit foolish. 

But, it was nice to see him smile again. 

 

****

May had already started into the first posture, when Skye ran into the room, breathless.

"Sorry, I'm late."

May just looked at her briefly with her eyes and continued.

Skye began to follow her in silence.

May was waiting for it, waiting to hear Skye say her I told you sos.

The were already into the fifth posture when May finally said.

"You win, Skye. You were right."

Skye smiled very slightly, her chin lightly raised.

They continued on in silence.

In the seventh posture, Skye broke the silence.

"That makes two of us."


End file.
